The film opens in the UK this weekend, but won’t hit the US until December 21st (a whole two days earlier than the last time I checked). Let us know how it is, mates!

UPDATE (10/19):THR has kindly provided a short interview with director Steven Spielberg and producer Peter Jackson about their involvement with the Tintin film, and it sports a few seconds of footage not seen in this new trailer. Good stuff, all around.

Okay, I’m on board now. I still don’t like the too-“realistic” designs of the film, but Spielberg knows how to work a camera â€” apparently, even a virtual one â€” and I think I can get over it for two hours. The first trailer piqued my interest, but this new one actually shows characters talking and interacting more, and it’s all a bit more convincing.

It’s probably telling that they avoided any shots with people talking (at least with synced sound); every motion-captured effort I’ve seen to date has, at best, looked a bit dodgy once the figures are in motion. At their worst, they look like corpses with sticks shoved up their bums, bouncing around like mop puppets. And while this certainly looks better than that, I can’t say I’m crazy about the too-“realistic” character designs. But then, I’m biased â€” I adore the original comics, and I had hoped for a less photoreal, more stylized approach to the motion capture. I don’t think it’s an inherently bad technique, just that it hasn’t yet been used well. (Yes, I saw Beowulf.)

Those of you who aren’t as attached to the originals: what do you think?